Six Carbon County municipalities will be getting projects completed soon.

During the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, the board opened bids for six Community Development Block Grant 2009 stimulus projects in Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Franklin Township, Lansford, Palmerton, and Summit Hill.Projects include a generator for Memorial Park in Jim Thorpe; repaving the South First Street parking lot in Lehighton; retaining wall work in Franklin Township; resurfacing a portion of Cortright Street in Lansford; improving the proposed ADA intersection on Lehigh Avenue in Palmerton; and resurfacing West Ludlow Street in Summit Hill.The bids will now be reviewed by county officials and contracts are slated to be awarded or rejected at the commissioners' Jan. 14, 2010 meeting.The CDBG program provides technical assistance to aid municipalities in community and economic development projects. Federal monies are channeled through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and distributed by each of the counties. Some communities, such as Franklin Township and Jim Thorpe, are automatically eligible for CDBG grants and considered entitlement communities, while municipalities such as Summit Hill, Nesquehoning and Weissport, must apply for monies for a project through the county. They are considered non-entitlement communities.To be considered an entitlement community, municipalities must have a population of 4,000, with at least 51 percent of the residents being classified as low-to-moderate income.Non-entitlement communities must compete for the annual funding.These municipalities do not have to have a specific population but their proposed projects must meet the same guidelines as the entitlement communities.Apparent low bidders for each of the projects, as well as other submitted bids, include:• Jim Thorpe: ARC Electric Construction Co. Inc. of West Hazleton submitted the apparent low bid of $86,755. Other bids include: J.B. Electric Corp. of Minersville, $96,969; S&K Construction of Tobyhanna, $98,000; and Thomas L. Hoffman Company Inc. of Allentown, $108,299.• Lehighton: Bruce George of Kunkletown submitted the apparent low bid of $26,315.76. Other bids were RGC Development LP of Bath, $32,586.30; Luzerne County Site Contractors LLC of Hazleton, $38,230; Lehigh Asphalt Paving and Construction Co. of Tamaqua, $39,453.60; Asphalt Paving Systems Inc. of Lehighton, $40,487.14; Schuylkill Paving Inc. of Schuylkill Haven, $40,974; and Pennsy Supply doing business as Slusser Brothers of West Hazleton, $53,533.60.• Franklin Township: Bruce George submitted the apparent low bid of $71,500. Other bids include: Lehigh Asphalt Paving and Construction, $109,900; Schuylkill Paving Inc., $115,000; S&K Construction, $142,013; RGC Development, $154,527; Bill Anskis Company Inc. of Elysburg, $176,670; and Tri-County Excavating of Hazleton, $186,589.• Lansford: The apparent low bid was submitted by Asphalt Paving Systems, who bid $48,057.75. Other bids were Lehigh Asphalt Paving and Construction, $51,717; Pennsy Supply DBA Slusser Brothers, $53,461.75; RGC Development, $53,839.50; Hazleton Site Contractors of Hazleton, $56,736; and Schuylkill Paving, $65,800.• Palmerton: Luzerne County Site Contractors submitted the apparent low bid of $68,305.77. Other bids include: F.J. Lesher General Contractor of Palmerton, $76,203; S&K Construction, $77,110; Asphalt Paving Systems, $78,434.25; Schuylkill Paving, $93,385; and Heim Construction Company of Pottsville, $119,260.• Summit Hill: Asphalt Paving Systems submitted the apparent low bid of $68,760.90. Other bids include: Lehigh Asphalt Paving and Construction, $71,895; RGC Development, $76,113.40; Pennsy Supply DBA Slusser Brothers, $82,631.50; Schuylkill Paving, $88,307.25; and Hazleton Site Contractors, $97,289.20.